Issue 12 2009: December
GENDER IDENTITY
"Mary," a 400 pound tortoise at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, was discovered, after 50 years, to actually be a male. Zookeepers changed his name to Terry. ..... The Week
DANGEROUS TO JOURNALISTS
At least 26 journalists have died in Mexico since 2005, most while covering drug-related crime and corruption, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Over the same period, 10 journalists have died in Afghanistan. ..... CNN.com
LONGER TOES
It's often said that great sprinters are born, not made. Now there's more biological evidence that this is true. Scientists have long known sprinters tend to have a higher percentage of fast-twitch muscle fibers in their legs. Now it turns out that sprinters possess another physical edge: longer toes. When researchers measured the feet and ankles of university runners, the sprinters were found to have toes at least a third of an inch longer than non-sprinters. That likely converts into a more effective push-off and more ground contact while getting up to speed. "Early in the race is where it's won or lost," Penn State biomechanist Stephen Piazza tells Discovery News. "If you can maintain contact with the ground longer, you can get more speed earlier." ..... The Week
PERSONAL SAVINGS
The personal savings rate of Americans is now 3 percent, roughly double that of a year ago. But with interest rates approaching zero, interest income has fallen 7.4 percent a month in the past three months. ..... Associated Press
FLIGHTS TO CHINA
Twenty years ago, South Korea did so little business with China that only one weekly flight connected Seoul and Beijing. Today, China is South Korea's top trading partner, and flights to China have soared to 642 per week. ..... Financial Times
THE MOST DEPRESSED HOUSING MARKET
The most depressed U.S. housing market is Las Vegas, where prices have fallen for 37 straight months. Prices have sunk 55.4 percent from their 2006 peak. ..... Marketwatch.com
THE CONDITION OF ANONYPONOMY
One is afflicted with this condition when he or she is almost anonymous, despite the eponymous use of his or her name in everyday language (think John Montague, the fourth Earl of Sandwich - he is famous for being the obscure figure behind an everyday word, that people often assume was not named after anyone.) ..... From the book "Anonyponymous: The Forgotten People Behind Everyday Words" by John Bemelmans Marciano and cited in The Week
MAVERICK (n.)
Samuel Augustus Maverick was a Yale graduate, lawyer, Mexican War veteran, and San Antonio mayor who owned so much Texas real estate they named a county after him. Maverick accepted a herd of cattle in exchange for a debt and, not caring much for livestock, neglected them to the point of allowing calves to wander about unbranded, a cardinal sin in the free-ranging days before barbed wire. The lack of a brand became a brand in itself: Whenever anybody found a stray calf with no markings, they said, "That there's a maverick." Metaphorical uses soon followed. ..... From the same book, cited in The Week
MILT'S MORSEL OF THE MONTH
"There's a time and a place for everything, and it's called college." ..... Bill Cosby quoted in The Boston Globe
JIM'S STETHASCOOP
"Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied." .....Otto von Bismarck, quoted in the London Independent
